Image from Grossneumarkt with Schlachterstraße leading to St . Michaelis Church ( ca 1910 ). The Marcus-Nordheim Stift was located on Schlachterstraße , which was destroyed in the 1943 bombings . Bildarchiv Hamburg ( BA 7370 )
Lea Salomon Heymann , born in 1886 in Hamburg , was the youngest daughter of the Altona merchant Adolph W . Salomon and his wife , Sophie . Lea lived with her sister Rosa in St . Georg before she married Paul Heymann — a merchant , hairdresser , and translator — in 1919 . The couple had three children . In 1924 , they took over the management of the Marcus- Nordheim Stift from her parents . Located in Hamburg-Neustadt , it provided low-income housing for many Jewish families . Hitler came to power in 1933 . Arrests , discrimination , and expulsions from school and work became commonplace for the family . In 1938 , together with husband and baby , Lea ’ s oldest daughter , Hilda , immigrated to Shanghai , one of the few places still accepting Jews without visas . In Shanghai , Hilda and her husband received letters from their families in Hamburg . Lea ’ s granddaughter sent me copies of the letters to translate : the mood was tense , the family wrote of “ getting by ,” friends were “ no longer here ,” many uncertainties but always hope “ auf ein Wiedersehen .” The letters stop .
In November 1941 , Lea Heymann , her husband Paul , and their daughter Wilma ( age 14 ) were deported to the Minsk ghetto . Lea ’ s two sisters , Fanny and Rosa , were deported one month later to Riga “ voluntarily ,” accompanied by their nephew Alfred ( age 17 ), Lea and Paul ’ s only son . Lea ’ s granddaughter told me that her mother , Hilda , clung to the hope for many years that her mother and siblings were still alive . However , in December 1949 , after persistent inquiries , a Hamburg court officially declared Lea Heymann dead ; date and time of death were noted in the margins of her marriage certificate : “ May 8 , 1945 , midnight ”— the day World War II ended in Europe . More likely , if she survived the hunger and cold or rampant infectious diseases in her first year at the Riga work camp , she was killed in 1943 before the ghetto was closed ( age 57 ).
Lea ’ s granddaughter told me she was in Hamburg 10 years ago to
Image from Grossneumarkt with view toward St . Michaelis Church ( 1906 ); Bildarchiv Hamburg ( AA 1055 )
trace her family ’ s history . At the time , she could find no one to help , no information .
Through the work of volunteers behind the Stolperstein project , we can now put stories , places , and photos together with victims . My telephone conversation with Lea ’ s granddaughter ended in tears and a genuine thank-you to the club for sponsoring the Stolperstein .
My sincere thanks to Joana M . -O ’ N . for initiating the project , Carol S . for arranging the Stolperstein sponsorship , and the many members who contributed . Lea ’ s birthday is February 27 — a good time for the missed dedication .
Background image from Neustadt , 1907 . Schlachterstaße as viewed from Mühlenstraße . The Elbstraße ( now Neanderstraße goes off to the left . Bildarchiv
Hamburg ( AA 9957 )
www . awchamburg . org 17